6 Ways To Stay Positive When Life Gets Hard

Sometimes life is hard. Whether it’s dealing with family issues, a tough work situation, or any other of life’s little challenges – we all face difficulties. Just because you are going through a difficult moment in your life, that doesn’t mean you still can’t maintain your positive outlook – it just means you need to try a little harder and have it top of mind. Here are 6 ways to stay positive when life gets tough.

1. Talk it out

Find someone you trust and talk through your worries. We tend to bottle things up and only see things from our own perspective. By talking it through with a friend or family member you can gain a new perspective and hopefully put you back in a positive direction.

2. Listen to music

Putting on music that you know you’ll enjoy is a simple hack to get yourself out of your own head and into a positive mindset. Instead of focusing on the potential negative outcomes, you’ll have endorphins flowing through your body and settling you into positivity.

3. Show gratitude

Write down 3 things that you are grateful for every morning before you start your day. After a few days (maybe sooner) you’ll realize all of the positive aspects of your life. Once in a positive mindset, you’ll be better primed to tackle your current life challenges.

4. Fear set

Fear-setting, a technique often attributed to Stoic philosophy, has you think through all of the possible “bad scenarios” that could come as a result of your challenges. By doing this, you’ll realize that the worst case really isn’t that bad at all. This will also help you face the challenges head on and be more prepared for different scenarios as they arise.

5. Accept what you can’t change

Radical acceptance is a practice of accepting the things that you can’t change, even if you don’t agree with them. By doing so, you’ll hack your mind to stop thinking about those things in a negative light – thus not feeding your brain with an infinite negative feedback loop!

6. Control what you can

Don’t waste your time worrying about the things that you can’t control, instead take that energy and put it into the areas that you can control. Being proactive as you face life’s challenges will put you into a positive mindset and guide you away from the feeling of helplessness – something we feel when life’s difficulties overwhelm us.

About the author: Eric is a co-founder at The Mindful Tech Lab where he focuses on creating self care technology to help millions of people around the world improve their body and mind. He is a strong proponent of positive psychology and enjoys reading, writing, and sharing the benefits to help others live their own best life.